Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Zenais

From his vantage point on the downward side of the clearing, Praxis was facing off against his enemy. It was early evening, and already the sun was starting to set on the rocky terrain of the Arcadian highlands. Once again, Praxis was ready for battle.

It was the third day since they left Demetrios’ village. They had followed the old healer’s advice, traveling the countryside until they reached the next mountain chain before moving south to hit the main road to Messenia.

And still, even being on the road was no guarantee of safety. This part of Arcadia was remote and desolate. Only the hardiest people made this area of Greece their home and with them came the persistent threat of banditry.

So far, Praxis and Lysandra hadn’t run into any foul characters but they still had a long way to go to get to Messene, the chief city of Messenia. And right now, Praxis was more consumed with catching their dinner.

That was because the “enemy” that he was staring down was nothing but a simple deer, oblivious to the fact that he was waiting a short distance away, his spear cocked in his arm and ready to throw. The creature grazed on the land without a care in the world, and Praxis knew if he could just keep the element of surprise, they would eat well tonight.

Praxis stalked forward quietly, keeping low to the ground but also keeping his eyes trained on the deer. He was now standing on a small crest with his rear facing toward Praxis. Praxis slowly poked his head up and waited for the deer to turn.

“Come on now. Turn, you bastard,” he whispered quietly.

Finally, the gods heard his request. The deer walked a few steps ahead while turning his body, presenting an excellent broadside for him to take advantage of. It was now or never. Raising his spear, Praxis prepared to throw.

But before that could happen, the beast suddenly let out a scream and fell to its side. Praxis’ eyes went wide as he watched it flop on the ground, a spear sticking out of its other side. How in Hades did that happen? Who was on the other side of the ridge?

He didn’t have to wait for his answer for very long. Praxis watched quietly as he saw the top of a head appear just below the crest, rising up a few inches with every step. Suddenly, he was looking into the face of a woman as she retrieved her spear from the now-dead deer.

Filled with anger over the stealing of his kill, Praxis rised up to his feet, catching the woman’s attention.

“Hey! That was my kill,” he yelled to her. “I was about to kill it.”

To his surprise, the woman snorted and laughed at him.

“Be quicker next time then,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Her response did little to calm his anger. Praxis found himself marching closer to her and once he closed the distance, he was able to see her features more clearly.

And he couldn’t help but admit that she was a very attractive woman.

The first thing he noticed was the bountiful mane of blonde hair. It reached all the way down her back and nearly to her butt, and it was as thick as it was long. She had piercing, blue eyes—the kind that shined when presented with the backdrop of the sky. She had deep-pink lips and a dainty chin but there was nothing dainty about the way she speared that deer.

The rest of her was no less stunning either. She wasn’t wearing a dress but a man’s chiton which was noticeably tight across her breasts. It didn’t do much for her modesty but she didn’t seem like the kind of girl who would care. She had long legs and stood just a tad higher than Lysandra. Just a short distance away, Praxis could see the shield that she had stuck in the ground, as well as a sword that was belted to her waist.

She appeared every inch the backwards warrior, and she had a mouth that matched her prowess with her spear.

“You might as well stop staring,” she said while yanking her spear from the deer. “I’m not interested in you.”

Praxis gave her a look of indignity. “I wasn’t staring at you.”

“You were,” she insisted. “You were just looking at my tits and then my legs. But I’m telling you again, I’m not interested.”

Praxis shook his head. “I’m more interested in the fact that you stole my dinner. I’ve been stalking this deer for half an hour now.”

She actually grinned at him. “Maybe you shouldn’t have waited so long then. If your hunting skills weren’t so inept, you might have had him much sooner.”

“Inept?” growled Praxis. “Coming from the woman who stole it from me, that’s rich.”

She shrugged and grabbed the hind legs of the beast and prepared to drag him away. “Think whatever you want but I got him fair and square. He’s mine tonight. If you try to stop me, I’ll use my spear on you next. And as you can tell already, I have excellent aim.”

Praxis was ready to tell her just what he thought about that when he heard a voice behind him. Lysandra had caught up and she was now looking at both him and the blonde woman while trying to discern what was going on.

“She stole our dinner,” said Praxis. “She waited until the last moment and took him down. So we might be hungry tonight.”

As soon as the blonde woman saw Lysandra, she actually stopped, letting the deer down. She put her hands on her hips.

“He’s just salty because he was too slow,” she said, grinning at Lysandra.

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At that moment, Praxis watched as the blonde woman checked out Lysandra in the same manner that he’d just been checking out her. And it was clear by the look in her eyes, there was some attraction there.

Did the blonde only like women?

“It’s fine if you caught it on your own,” said Lysandra with a resigned shrug. “We’ll just try our luck elsewhere.”

The blonde started to shake her head. “Actually, we might be able to share. What’s your name?”

“I’m called Lysandra and this is Praxis.”

“Lysandra,” repeated the blonde, saying it a couple times while ignoring Praxis. “That’s a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. It suits you well.”

Lysandra shot Praxis an amused look. “Thank you, I guess?”

The blonde started walking toward her. “I’m Zenais. And there’s no way I’m going to be able to eat all this meat myself so why don’t we split it? You’re hungry, right, Lysandra? Why don’t you eat with me tonight? I could use a distraction from my usual loneliness.”

Instead of answering, Lysandra looked again at Praxis. “What do you think? Willing to give it a shot?”

Zenais gave Praxis an annoyed look, no doubt viewing him as some kind of third wheel already but hunger gave way to anger and he nodded his acceptance.

“Come over this way, we’ve started to set up our camp over here,” said Lysandra.

It took them about ten minutes to reach their campsite for the night, where Lysandra had already gathered some water while Praxis was hunting. The honors of carrying the deer fell to Praxis, although Zenais warned him that she would “spill his guts” if he thought to run away with it, a threat that he would have found amusing if he wasn’t already irritated.

“We’ll need a good fire to cook up this meat,” said Zenais once they arrived. She turned to look at Praxis. “You’re a big, strapping man. Go get us some firewood, will you?”

Praxis entered the nearby woods with his mood growing increasingly foul. Who did this woman think she was? And did she not realize that Lysandra was with him? What made her think she could hit on Lysandra?

During his gathering, he heard the sounds of laughter from back at the camp. When he turned his attention that way, he saw Zenais scooting ever closer to Lysandra, like a hawk about to dive on her prey.

“Horn of Hades, I’m about to end this,” he growled, marching back to the campsite intending to give Zenais a piece of his mind.

When he arrived though, Lysandra gave him a look of relief. She hopped up and offered to join him to get the rest of the firewood, an offer he accepted after giving a wary eye to Zenais. Once they arrived in the woods, she grabbed his arm.

“Sorry, I had to get away for a second,” said Lysandra with an amused smile. “It’s pretty obvious that Zenais likes women instead of men, and she’s coming on very strong.”

“Does it make you not want to eat with her tonight?” asked Praxis. “Because we don’t have to stay.”

“No, it’s just more amusing than anything else,” said Lysandra, laughing. “Although it doesn’t look like you’re enjoying the situation.”

“How’d you guess?” he growled. “If I wasn’t here, she’d probably have already made her move on you.”

“We can handle it for one night, I guess. But let’s get the last of this firewood so we can eat. I’m starving.”

It only took another ten minutes to gather up enough wood to start a fire and they started to cook the meat. With Praxis back, Zenais wasn’t as overt with her attention to Lysandra but they were able to learn quite a lot about the blonde, buxom warrior.

“I don’t really know where I came from,” said Zenais while eating. “I don’t have a family. Or rather, one that I keep in touch with. My real parents abandoned me when I was only a baby. They left me to die on a mountaintop.”

“That’s terrible,” replied Lysandra. “Why would they have done that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they couldn’t afford me. Maybe I wasn’t a legitimate child, the product of some affair. Either way, they didn’t want me. I was found by an old farmer and his wife, and they treated me like their own until I was old enough to know better. My adopted mother wanted me to be a proper woman and learn how to take care of a man but all I wanted to do was fight. Ever since the first time I saw men in combat, shields locked and swords engaged, I’ve always wanted to be with them. I knew I’d never make a good wife but maybe someday I’d make a good warrior.”

“When my adopted parents died, I was only sixteen,” continued Zenais. “Suddenly, I had nothing and nobody but I wasn’t scared. I saw it as my chance to live the life I wanted free of distractions. So I took up my adopted father’s sword and shield and started traveling around the Peloponnese. I’ve usually found myself in Arcadia, if only because it affords more opportunity for fighting. There are nasty brigands in this part of the country and they’ve given me plenty of chances to hone my skills.”

“Doesn’t it get lonely?” asked Lysandra. “You know, without having a family?”

To their surprise, Zenais grinned at her. “I don’t have any trouble finding someone to warm my side at night. Which brings me to the question I’ve been waiting to ask all evening—how do I get you in my bed, Lysandra?”

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